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Energization of ions in near‐Earth current sheet disruptions
Author(s) -
Taktakishvili A.,
Lopez R. E.,
Goodrich C. C.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/94gl03384
Subject(s) - substorm , current sheet , particle acceleration , physics , acceleration , current (fluid) , ion , plasma sheet , ring current , computational physics , geophysics , magnetosphere , atmospheric sciences , atomic physics , magnetic field , magnetohydrodynamics , classical mechanics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
In this study we examine observations made by AMPTE/CCE of energetic ion bursts during seven substorm periods when the satellite was located near the neutral sheet, and CCE observed the disruption cross‐tail current in situ. We compare ion observations to analytic calculations of particle acceleration. We find that the acceleration region size, which we assume to be essentially the current disruption region, to be on the order of 1 R E . Events exhibiting weak acceleration had either relatively small acceleration regions (apparently associated with pseudobreakup activity on the ground) or relatively small changes in the local magnetic field (suggesting that the magnitude of the local current disruption was limited). These results add additional support for the view that the particle bursts observed during turbulent current sheet disruptions are due to inductive acceleration of ions.